Jersey City teams play first games at RBI World Series in Minneapolis

The Jersey City Senior League and Junior League Yankees got underway at the 2011 RBI Baseball World Series yesterday, as both teams’ opening opponents proved to be worthy opponents.

The Junior League Yankees dropped their first game of the tournament, 13-8, to Atlanta. The Senior League Yankees played a pair of slugfests, losing to Atlanta, 14-10, and tying Harrisburg, 13-13.

The Junior Yankees fell victim to a 8-2 deficit by the second inning, but saw their bats come alive against the Southeast Regional champion in the sixth inning, scoring four runs to pull within one run, 9-8. But Atlanta countered in the bottom half of the frame, pushing across another four runs to put the game out of reach.

Shortstop T.J. Ward went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI and two walks, while P.J. Cardone added two RBI for the locals.

The Junior Yankees will look to improve today, as they take on Philadelphia and Detroit.

The Senior League squad took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but watched as Atlanta answered back with five in the bottom half of the inning. Jersey City hung four runs on the board in the fifth inning to regain the lead, but Atlanta rallied once again, scoring five more runs in the sixth.

Right fielder Jeudy Ventura led the way offensively for Jersey City, collecting three hits and three RBI. Angel Colon and Rory Carvajal both added a pair of RBI. Darryl Valez and Alessandro Spadotto drove in a run a piece.

In their afternoon game, the Senior Yankees pushed across the tying run in the bottom of the seventh when Willy Tavares plated Mario Albunia. The game ended in a draw due to the tournament’s time limit rule.

Tavares went 3-for-4 with four RBI, Ventura also collected three hits and three RBI, while Carvajal added drove in three on two hits.

The Senior League Yankees will play their third game of the tournament today at 8:30 a.m. against Cleveland.